Are We Fashion Sheep?

Out window shopping one night when we came across a rack
of coloured pants. Upon seeing them I commented on how I really wanted a pair
of burgundy pants, to which my friend replied with a statement that went along
the lines of- you only want them because they are in fashion now, and there is
no point buying them towards the end of the trend. Of course I protested with “No!
I want them because I like them and not because they are in fashion and will
wear them even when the trend is out.” But
it did raise a thought- it’s a little more than coincidence that my desire for
burgundy pants came about the same time it was in trend. Are we just fashion
sheep? Do we like what we wear because we like it without influence or because
we are told we like it? I guess this really raises the larger question of do we
truly like anything free from outside influences? But, let’s just stick to
fashion today.

I think the key thing here
is exposure, something comes into fashion and our exposure to it greatly
increases- we are not only seeing it sold in stores but more people are wearing it.
Research has shown that we are more likely to like something familiar, and thus
something we are exposed to more. And with
the weather getting cooler pants/jeans fast become some of the more popular
items in your wardrobe. After awhile, however, you become tired of the limited
options- usually having to pick between blue and black. And then you see more
and more people rocking coloured pants, adding a flash of colour to their
outfit and begin to warm to the idea of getting a pair yourself. Maybe this is not everyone’s thought
process but it was mine. And I’m sure there are people who just blindly follow
the herd with the frame of mind that “It’s cool, if I wear them I am cool/will
fit in more”.

But it’s not as simple as we are exposed to things
chosen by certain higher forces and we all go “Baaa” and run out and buy it.
This is when our own freewill, tastes and opinions kick in. If
exposure/advertising/what have you was the only thing in play then I would own
jeggings, and that will never happen. I
don’t care how many celebrities/models wear them and how many media outlets
claim that they wedge the gap between style and comfort. They are gross and
promote leggings as pants. But jeggings are a whole other topic (if you are
interested in reading my rant regarding them you can do so here),

So, I’m not denying that maybe our love of certain
trends is directly correlated with certain forces exposing it to us. Exposure
to it raises our awareness of it and we then form our opinion. And it may come
across sheep like because of the mass consumption but these “higher forces” are
not just randomly throwing out random products but, rather, are creating and
advertising products/items etc that they predict will appeal to the masses. So,
in a way, its like a cycle. We influence what they decide they will influence
us with and how we take to that influences what next they will pick, and so on
(yes I realise that was a hard to follow sentence but gist of it is it’s a cycle).

But what do you think? Are we sheep or are our fashion
choices entirely our own?